. >> david: so let's bring in victor oquendo live in venice, back with us tonight. victor, that's a home buried in the sand there behind you? >> reporter: david, i can see right ov hurricane miltong behind massiv coast that was two weeks ago, now cleaning up, diggg out feet of sand and rebuilding. it will take months. david. >> david: just extraordinary. the sand a line there. victor oquendo, ginger zee, whit johnson, our thanks to all of you in the s meantime we will tn to other news this evening and to the emergency unfolding in colorado. we learned multiple people have been trapped inside a gold mine popular with tourists. several injured and one person killed and reporting wh what we kno so far. >> reporter: tonight a search and rescue operationat thisolor afteau an equipment malfunction trapped tour group 500 feet and lef people deaal units headg 57 at the gold mine. >> reporter: first responders transporting six to local hospitals, heavy mattheanry eration.in tist with the >> i have 12 people1,000 feet that are still there. at this timee at with one of th worke

>> david: victor oquendo and our team there in sarasota. victor, thank you. just moments ago, i spoke with the hurricane hunters from noaa, who flew into the hurricane today. they spent hours in the air. i spent with lieutenant commander josh rannenberg, just before by came on the air tonight. lieutenant commander rannenberg, thanks for joining us here tonight. i know you flew in a nine-hour mission through this hurricane today. what can you tell us? what did you see? >> we got in the storm pretty early. we started flying out at 3:00 a.m. and when we got to the eye of the storm, it was still a category 5 hurricane, and i watched it grow from tropical storm to a cat 5 monster within two missions, which is the fastest i've ever seen anything rapidly intensified. >> david: i understand you witnessed what you call the stadium effect. you flew right into the eye this hurricane. you hit turbulence. take our viewers through, what is the stadium effect? what did you see? >> yeah, when we were inside the eye, the eye of the storm was very hot. the air was much smoothe

victor oquendo, thank you. let's get right to chief meteorologist jiginger zee. ginger, i know you've been studying the latest forecast in from the hurricane center. how big do they think the hurricane will actually be when it hits? >> reporter: yeah, looks like landfall, david, will be in about 18 hours from now. late wednesday night through early thursday morning as a category 3 hurricane. we don't focus on the cat 3 or the category, because look behind me. that's tampa. and depending on how the wind moves, and here, we anticipate an offshore wind, you have the biggest surge coming at these peninsulas that face east, like st. petersburg. on the south side of it, where that dirty side is, we'll have huge impacts. let's look at the satellite image. it has been wild to watch this thing evolve over the last couple of days. it's just north of the yucatan peninsula. so, it's moving east-northeast. it will get picked up in a trough, and that's also going to kind of add some wind shear which is going to take down the category, right? that's why it goes from a 5 down to

our victor oquendo made his way to st. pete beach, right there in the evacuation zone, on this urgent effort now under way tonight. >> reporter: tonight, hurricane milton taking aim at florida, just ten days after helene slammed the state with 140-mile-an-hour winds and record storm surge. >> we can't affect the track. we can't control how strong or how weak it gets. the only thing that you can affect is what you do and the decision you make to protect yourself and your families. >> reporter: evacuation orders growing by the hour. hundreds of thousands told in no uncertain terms to get out while there's still time. >> if they have called for your evacuation order, i beg you, i implore you to evacuate. >> reporter: families frantically filling sandbags, shoring up what they can. stocking up and getting out. >> i have a 1-year-old as of tomorrow, and my wife is expecting our second child, so we just want to take necessary precautions. >> reporter: interstates packed bumper to bumper. authorities waiving tolls and opening the

victor oquendo joins us from sarasota on the phone just minutes from where milton first made landfallctor. >> byron we are on the backside of the hurricane and it is incredibly powerful. siesta key where it made landfall. it's just seven miles from us. so just moments after the eye passed over us, conditions rapidly deteriorated here. our team had to get indoors and we felt it start with the wind and then over at sarasota bradenton international airport. they recorded a gust of wind at 102mph. and that's just across the street from where we're staying tonight. we are without power. i'm currently wearing a headlamp just to see inside my hotel room. storm surge. that's been a major concern all along, but milton also spawning dozens of tornadoes. more are still possible as we all brace for a long night ahead tonight. monster hurricane milton pounding the state of florida. the category three hurricane making landfall on the state's west coast. catastrophic winds reaching as high as 120mph. wind and rain pummeling the sunshine state. the storm spawning over 30 tornadoes ripping through nei

here's abc news reporter victor oquendo in this morning's gma first look, a real life doctor odyssey.you're going to be okay. >> hi. >> gma reuniting this carnival cruise doctor with the 12 year old massachusetts boy. she and her staff helped save 400 miles off the coast of north carolina. calling in this air force chopper to get him the urgent care he needed. >> i feel like that i probably wouldn't still be here if you didn't help me this morning. >> how the now healthy patient is doing. you look different. >> yeah, i bet. >> definitely in way better shape than before. yeah. >> and coming up at 7 a.m, we'll have much more of this real life medical save on the high seas. >> there was a moment when we were on the ship. you had told me that the coast guard wasn't close enough, and you said that you were going to. that they were going to talk to the navy. and i was like, what if they're not close enough? >> with your gma first look, i'm victor oquendo abc news miami. >> and we're not done with cruise ships yet because the three and a half year dream cruise finally set sail following seve

victor oquendo is in sarasota where they're obviously feeling this at this hour. >> reporter: tonight, monster hurricane milton unleashing a tornado outbreak across florida. at least 30 twisters reported already. terrifying home surveillance video capturing the moment this tornado roared through fort myers. the skies turning dark as it barrels down the street. those howling winds tearing apart trees, damaging homes. accuweather on the scene capturing the aftermath. the roof ripped right off robert haight's home. he and his family inside when it happened. >> and we all started going for the hallway, didn't even make it there in time. i heard a piece of glass crack, and it sucked the whole roof off. i felt the thing sucking me up. i grabbed my kid and my wife and hunkered down. >> reporter: another tornado spotted on a traffic camera crossing i-75, west of fort lauderdale -- far from where milton is taking direct aim. the hurricane slamming florida's gulf coast as it moves onshore. powerful winds and torrential rain bending power poles in matlacha, near fort myers -- areas rocked by hur

victor oquendo has the exclusive. good morning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, rebecca.is story when it first happened. that young boy aidan was on that cruise with his mom, dad and sister when all of a sudden this family vacation turned into a race to save his life. hanging from that air force rescue helicopter, 12-year-old aidan parker, air lifted from this carnival cruise ship after the senior physician and her team discovered an urgent life threatening condition in his abdomen, making the quick decision to get him and his mom to urgent care, saving his life. >> okay, we're all here. >> hi! >> reporter: now, in an exclusive reunion, family and doctor speaking for the first time since that high seas rescue five months ago. >> you look good. >> yeah. definitely am in way better shape than before. >> reporter: dr. stephanie weiss connecting while on another carnival cruise on duty as a real life dr. odyssey. weiss and her team discovering a perforation in his intestine. >> i knew how serious it was. obviously, i was scared to death. >> i just felt extremely horrible. >>

victor oquendo is at a gas station in sarasota. ning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, robin. it is hard to find but this gas station in sarasota, they still have some gas left. they are down to regular here. checked inside and they tell me they fully expect to run out today and they aren't sure when the next shipment is coming. they also called monday a record day. you will definitely see the long lines at gas stations throughout florida. but right now officials say currently there is no fuel shortage and more is on the way. with so many people evacuating, we've seen the heavy traffic ourselves. in order to ease congestion, tolls have been temporarily suspended and the shoulders on i 75 have been opened up as well. if you're trying to fly out, that will not be an option for much longer. tampa's airport and bradenton, sarasota will be closing later this morning. orlando airport closing tomorrow. george? >> george: okay, victor. thanks. kamala harris is blasting donald trump for spreading disinformation about the hurricane relief.

milton may landfall in siesta key right near sarasota and that's where victor oquendo is getting a sensehow hard that area was hit. good morning victor. >> good morning, michael. this heavy police presence that you see behind us that is the sheriff's office and they are blocking the entrance onto siesta key. hurricane milton making land fall just on the other side of that bridge there and for the time being no one is allowed to drive on, although residents eager to check on their homes, can walk over. i've checked in with the county and they tell me that right now there are tactical teams doing that first wave damage assessment. we've also seen a high water rescue vehicle driving over. but with helene they are clearing debris right now. two weeks ago, hurricane haley hit siesta key hard with the forecast calling up to twice the amount of storm surge. they are bracing for significant damage. rebecca. >> all right victor thank you. and thanks to our entire team in the storm's path. we turn now to the white house response last night president biden promised that he and vice-president harris